


I'm a Rebel Just for Kicks

by stellewrites



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Breakfast Club Fusion, Billy Hargrove Tries to Be a Better Person, Billy calls Steve petnames, Bisexual Steve Harrington, F/M, Fluff, Hints of abuse, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Nancy takes no shit, Post-Season/Series 02, Recreational Drug Use, Shy Steve, The Principal is unfair to Billy bc thats how it is in the film, a bit anyway, at first but then hes, confident steve, kind of remorseful Billy, like its resolved pretty quick, no homophobia bc I couldn't bring myself to write angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 00:04:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13962981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellewrites/pseuds/stellewrites
Summary: Steve couldn't believe he was having to spend his Saturday with his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, his friend-turned-pain-in-the-ass, and BillyfuckingHargrove. Steve couldn't think of a group of people he'd like to spendlesstime with than them.Hopefully, the next six hours won't be too bad.





	I'm a Rebel Just for Kicks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xxcaribbean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxcaribbean/gifts).



> This is my first time writing for the Stranger Things fandom so idk if any of them are ooc or not? And I can't remember reading a Harringrove Breakfast Club au, so I decided to write one myself. This is the longest fic I've ever written, it just kept going and I didn't know how to end it. It basically follows the film plot, and it's set in the same place bc I can't remember seeing a library in ST and I'm too lazy to make my own up. 
> 
> I'm gifting it to xxcaribbean because she's the reason I got into Harringrove in the first place and she's got an amazing tumblr @roseaque 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always welcome and appreciated! Including concrit :)  
> My tumblr is cptnsteebrogers if you wanna talk about ST or give me any prompts

If anyone had asked Steve a year ago he would’ve laughed at the idea of sacrificing his Saturday in detention to take the fall for a dweeby kid like Dustin when he could’ve been hanging around and causing trouble with Tommy and Carol, but here he was, sat at the front of the library, figuring he’d be able to leave quicker if he was closer to the door. Steve had changed a lot since dating Nancy, not that their relationship had lasted all that long. However, Tommy _hadn’t_ changed at all, meaning Steve was still stuck having to spend his Saturday with him during detention and for some reason, he’d decided to sit at the desk next to Steve. He figured it was because it’d make annoying him a lot easier.

He wished it was just the two of them, he could deal with that. At least then he could just ignore his old friend and maybe have the chance to catch up on some homework, but Steve wasn’t that lucky. Oh no, he was stuck in detention for a full day with not only Tommy, but his ex-girlfriend, Nancy, and her new boyfriend, Jonathan. They were huddled close at the second desk to front of the left side of the library, meaning Steve had to twist slightly to be able to see them properly. He turned away from the soft looks Nancy and Jonathan were sharing; it didn’t hurt seeing them together anymore, but he didn’t really want to spend a full day hearing and seeing them in his peripheral vision giggling together either. He put his head down, determined to get some work done before Tommy got too annoying and distracting. He focused on the math equations in front of him, going over them again and again, trying to remember how the teacher had solved them in class. 

He heard the door open, but didn’t look up, figuring it was the Principal coming to check they were all here, but Tommy caught Steve’s attention when he rose from his slouch like an eager puppy. He looked up to see who earned such an enthusiastic reaction from the usually apathetic teen. 

_God damn it._

He should’ve known. Just when Steve had thought this day couldn’t get much worse, Billy Hargrove, of all fucking people, waltzed in, his grin widening at the sight of Steve’s sullen face. 

“You decide to slum it with the rest of us today, King Steve?” He said as he passed by. Encouraged by Tommy’s snicker and mean grin, Billy took the seat directly behind Steve, making him feel a little surrounded. 

Billy had pulled his chair out far enough for him to comfortably kick his boots up onto the table. He took a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and let it hang from his lips as he said, “I’m _honoured._ ” He’d only just put his lighter away when Principal Coleman marched through the front library doors. His eyes narrowed when he saw Billy casually smoking. 

“Hargrove. What have I told you about smoking on school premises? Put it out. Now,” He demanded, staring Billy down until he took one last drag, blowing the smoke out through his nose angrily. He leant forward to slowly stub it out against the surface of the table, his eyes never leaving Mr. Coleman’s. 

The Principal turned away from him with a long-suffering sigh, noting on the register that all the teens were there for their detentions before he spoke again. 

“I can see a few familiar faces here today. I know most of you will be familiar with the rules of detention here at Hawkins High, but for those of you that are first time offenders, I’ll go over them again. There will be no talking, no eating until 12:30, there’ll be a bathroom break straight after that. You are not allowed to leave this room. You are to sit here, quietly and obediently. And no sleeping,” He said, giving Billy a dirty look at the way he lounged in his chair with his head tipped back. “Today, I want to try something new. You’re all going to write an essay, no less than fifteen hundred words, describing who you think you are.” He started handing out blank sheets of paper to the five teenagers, slapping Billy’s sheet down with extra force to gain his attention. “This essay will include no profanities and will not just be the same word repeated fifteen hundred times.”

Billy scoffed. 

“You come up with this yourself?” 

“Watch your tone, Hargrove.”

“Sorry, you come up with this yourself, _sir._ ”

“Don’t push your luck, you’re already here next week, you want to make plans for the weekend after that?” 

“I’m flattered you wanna spend so much time with me, sir,” Billy grinned mockingly. 

“Your attitude’s going to be the end of you, Hargrove. That’s a fact. You think you’re hot stuff now, but I can’t wait to see you in five years’ time,” Steve’s eyes widened in surprise at the Principal’s harsh words. Did he not care that there were four other students in the room, or was he just that confidant that they wouldn’t say anything to defend Billy? 

“You think I’m going to stay in this shithole for another five years? Risk ending up like you?”

“You better not have anything planned anytime soon, buster, because your ass is going to be stuck here for the next three weeks,” Mr. Coleman said, angrily pointing his finger at Billy. 

“I’m _delighted._ ” 

“A month.”

“Like I give a shit,” Billy’s gaze shifted from the Principal to the two students sat in front of him and back again, his restless hands fiddled with his jacket buttons. His anxious movements didn’t escape the Principal’s notice. 

“That’s another one, what is that now? Six weeks?”

“No that’s only fiv-.” Nancy tried to correct, before the Principal turned to snap at her. 

“Watch it, missy!” He turned back to Billy. “You want to keep going?”

“Why not?” Billy gritted his teeth. His dad would have ‘taught him a lesson’ for getting just one extra detention, having six made him feel hopeless and reckless; like he had nothing to lose. His dad would do what he always did when he found out, and Billy wouldn’t stop him. 

“That’s another one right there. I’m sure you’re really impressing these people, Hargrove.”

“Screw you,” Billy forced out, hanging his head slightly to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes. 

“Seven!”

“Why don’t we just make it a whole two months, huh?” 

“Stop!” Steve gasped, turned in his chair to face Billy. He lifted his head at the outburst, looking at Steve in shock before turning to glare at the Principal once more. 

“You’re mine for the next eight weeks, son. At this rate I could keep you here for the rest of your miserable life, huh?” The Principal smirked. 

Billy clenched his teeth, not wanting to get another detention, but too proud to back down.

“Try it, old man.”

“Don’t test me. You want another one?”

“ _No,_ ” He answered moodily. 

“You sure? I’ve got all the time in the world,” Principal Coleman motioned with his arms. 

“ _Yes._ ” 

“Good. Don’t mess with the bull, son, or you’ll get the horns,” He backed out of the library, keeping eye contact with the sneering blonde. He’d barely stepped into his office across the hall when he heard Billy shout a furious and frustrated, “FUCK YOU!” The Principal’s shoulders slumped as he sighed and sat down in his desk chair. 

\---

Billy was breathing heavily through his nose, his chest heaving beneath his crossed arms. He dropped his feet from the desk, letting them hit the floor heavily as he went to stand up. 

“Where are you going?” Nancy hissed as he sauntered to the front of the library. “He said we’re not supposed to move.”

“And you think I give a shit about what he says?” Billy asked bitingly, not turning away from the library doors. 

Nancy flushed in anger and slight embarrassment, tightening her hold on Jonathan’s hand under the table instead of saying something back. They all watched as Billy messed around with the door fixtures for a minute, before making a quiet pleased noise as he stepped back, watching the door swing closed in front of him. 

“Hey, what the hell, asshole?” Steve narrowed his eyes at Billy as he walked back to his desk. 

“What? I didn’t do anything,” Billy shrugged innocently as he slid back into his chair behind Steve.

“Fix the door,” Nancy demanded. “ _Now._ ”

“God, stop being such a stuck-up bitch for once, Nancy,” Tommy laughed, enjoying the trouble Billy caused others. Though his mean grin fell as soon as Mr. Coleman came barging through the broken door. 

“Why is this door closed?” He demanded, immediately turning to Billy. 

“Don’t look at me, sir. I don’t know how it happened,” He said, holding back a smirk. “Screws fall out all the time, the world’s an imperfect place.”

The Principal’s eyes narrowed as he looked over to the other students, focusing on Jonathan. 

“You,” He said, pointing, “How did that door close?” 

Jonathan sunk lower in his chair, hunching his shoulders up and turning his head away from the teacher in front of him. 

“The freak doesn’t talk, sir,” Tommy explained, frowning over at the couple. 

“I don’t believe this,” The Principal sighed, losing his patience. “Wheeler, the door. Who closed it?” 

She hesitated. 

“No one, sir. We were just… Sat here, like you told us, when the door closed,” She shrugged, Nancy could see Billy grinning from across the room, as well as Steve and Jonathan’s incredulous stares, but she ignored them in favour of convincing the Principal that they’d done no wrong. 

He huffed, giving one last glare to Billy before heading back to the doors, grabbing a chair to try and prop the door open. 

“That’s not going to work, Mr. Coleman,” Steve said hesitantly, wincing at the sharp look he got in return. “The door’s too heavy,” He added as the teacher let go of it, watching as the door launched the chair forward and slammed shut. 

“ _Damn it,_ ” The older man came storming through the door, motioning for Tommy to stand. “Come on, up. We’re moving this magazine stand.”

Steve was about to add how that wasn’t much of an improvement when he saw how Tommy was struggling. He shut his mouth, enjoying seeing Tommy trip over himself and the magazine stand as he tried to get back inside the library. Billy saw his reaction and grinned, he let Steve have his fun for a while longer before he mocked their Principal again. 

“That’s _very_ clever, sir. But what if there’s a fire? I think endangering the lives of five seniors wouldn’t be a smart move at this point in your career.”

No one mentioned that the library had doors towards the back, leading toward the other end of the school. 

Mr. Coleman looked back at the propped open door and the way Tommy was sprawled half way through the door and seemed to suddenly see all the health code violations he was making. 

“Ok, come on. Get this out of here, what were you thinking?” He said, clicking his fingers at Tommy to get him moving again. 

\---

Mr. Coleman had eventually admitted defeat and left the door closed, stating that he’d be listening extra carefully to make sure they weren’t doing something they shouldn’t be. 

Steve was tapping his pen against his paper, looking at the scribbled out sentences he’d written. Who was he? King Steve, bullshit boyfriend, monster hunter, babysitter. It would depend on who you asked, he thought. His thoughts were interrupted by Billy as he moved to sit on the top of the waist-high bookshelf to his right. 

“So, how ‘bout it, Harrington?” Billy stared down at him, his question gaining the attention of the room. 

“What?” 

“Do you like your parents?”

“What kind of question is that?” He asked defensively. He didn’t know why Billy had decided to suddenly start grilling him then, but he wasn’t surprised. After Billy had beaten the shit out of him at the Byers’ house he’d started to lay off Steve a little, only knocking him down half as much during basketball, and had even gotten Tommy to stop pushing him as they passed down the hall. And though Steve appreciated not having to go home from school covered in bruises, he didn’t like how Billy had decided to replace his physical onslaughts with insults, taking every chance he got to belittle Steve. 

“Not the rhetorical kind, idiot, so answer it.” 

Steve sighed, rolling his eyes at the snicker he heard come from Tommy. 

“They’re ok, I guess. They’re my parents, it’s not as if you get to pick them.”

“Who do you like better?” Billy said, leaning his elbows on his knees to lean further forward and closer to Steve. 

“I don’t know, I like them equally, I guess,” Billy rolled his eyes, leaning back disinterested. Steve didn’t know why, but he wanted Billy’s attention back on him, so he spoke again. “My dad is desperate for me to go into his business when I leave school. It’s all he talks about when he’s home, which is rare. He puts all this pressure on me constantly. My mom isn’t much better, she’s hardly home like dad, but when she is she acts like we’re this perfectly happy family, when she doesn’t even have a clue about what’s going on in my life. It’s so fake, I almost prefer it when the house is empty.” Steve thought he saw sympathy on Billy’s face, but he couldn’t be sure as the expression was gone a second later. 

“Ha!” Tommy laughed, “You’re just feeling sorry for yourself.” 

“Shut up,” Steve said, punching the other teen in the shoulder, he’d almost forgotten he wasn’t alone with Billy. 

“You’re breaking my heart, Harrington. Bet it gets _so lonely_ up there in that big, fancy house of yours,” Billy said sarcastically. Steve wished he’d never opened his mouth, he should’ve known Hargrove wouldn’t be sympathetic after hearing about his absent parents. “Is that why you’ve brought back so many girls? I heard you used to be pretty good with the ladies, up until Wheeler, that is.”

Steve snapped his head up, ready to call Billy out on his bullshit when Nancy spoke before he got the chance, “Leave him alone,” She said firmly. Billy slid off the cabinet, and moved to stand in front of Steve. 

“Man, must be a real fucking bummer to have to spend your Saturday stuck with your ex, but to have to spend it with your ex _and_ her new fuck buddy? Tough break, pretty boy.”  
“Shut up, Hargrove. Detention is boring enough without having to listen to you the entire time,” Jonathan spoke up, glaring across the room.  
“The freak speaks,” Tommy spat. 

“You going to shut me up, Byers?” Billy asked, tilting his head condescendingly as he walked over to the quiet teen. He had already removed his jacket and left it draped over Steve’s desk, leaving him in a short-sleeved, red button up, open at the front as usual. 

Jonathan was about to reply when he was cut off by Tommy jeering.

“Kick his ass, Billy. Teach the creep some respect, like you did to Harrington,” He grinned, his eyes wide with excitement at the prospect of Billy beating up Jonathan. 

Billy froze. He clenched his fists and turned in place, glaring fiercely down at Tommy. 

“Excuse me?” Billy’s voice was too calm, dangerously so when paired with his shaking fists and stiff posture, though Tommy didn’t seem to notice.  
“What? I was backing you up,” He shrugged carelessly. 

“Yeah? Maybe it’s _you_ I should be teaching a _fucking lesson_ to,” Billy spat, dragging Tommy from his seat by his shirt. 

“Hey, calm down. Fucking let go,” Tommy said, pushing Billy off of him, “The hell is your problem, man?” 

“Move. You don’t get to sit near me or him,” Billy stated, pointing towards a dumbstruck Steve. 

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” Tommy scoffed, puffing up his chest instead of moving from where he was stood in front of his chair. 

“You wanna find out, asshole?” 

Steve looked passed the two posturing boys to see Nancy’s concerned face. He knew she wanted to interfere and stop it, but the wild look in Billy’s eye was enough for Steve to know that this wasn’t going to be pretty no matter who stepped in. He caught her eye and shook his head minutely, saw Jonathan convince her to keep her head down. 

He looked back just as Tommy threw his first punch, it hit Billy solidly, making him stumble back a step and bring a hand to his bloody nose. Steve heard Nancy gasp, and saw how Jonathan’s face was turned away from the fight, his arm curved over Nancy’s shoulder. Tommy tried to get another hit in, but Billy had recovered too quick. He ducked out of the way of Tommy’s fist, landing his own hit in Tommy’s stomach, before punching him in the face. He kneeled over where Tommy had fallen and punched him a few times in quick succession. Steve had the horrible thought that this is what it must have looked like when Billy had beaten him up. 

“Stop! Billy, stop!” Steve shouted, his eyes wide and panicked. 

“Hey, what’s that ruckus?” They all turned towards the library doors as the Principal barged through, taking in Billy’s broken nose and Tommy’s bruised face with an open mouth and a frown. 

“Hargrove! Get up, you’re coming with me,” He snapped, before pointing at Steve. “You, get him in my office, there’s a first aid kit in there, under my desk. I’ll clean him up once I’m back.”

Steve got up stiffly as he watched Billy wipe his sleeve across his bloody nose and saunter over to Mr. Coleman. The older man grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and roughly dragged him out of the library. 

Tommy sat up with the help of Steve, and he gingerly lifted him off the ground with an arm around his shoulders. They slowly made their way to Coleman’s office across the hall and Steve ignored the pained groan Tommy let out when dropped him into a chair near the window. He went to the other side of the desk and grabbed the small first aid kit from the floor, placing it on the desk for easy access when the older man came back. He turned to leave when Tommy spoke with a hoarse voice. 

“I’m gonna fucking get you for this, Harrington,” He wheezed.

“What?” Steve asked in genuine shock, last time he checked, he wasn’t the one that gave Tommy a black eye. “The hell did I do? I stopped him, dipshit.” 

“He went crazy when I mentioned _your_ name,” Tommy explained lamely. 

Steve didn’t mention how Billy had seemed to tense at the word ‘respect’, not his name. He didn’t think Tommy would appreciate it. Instead he shrugged and looked down at Tommy from where he stood. 

“Doesn’t look like you can do much at the moment, Tommy. Could barely walk on your own,” Steve rolled his eyes. He looked back at the first aid kit for a second before opening it and taking out a few antiseptic wipes and a plaster. He noticed the pain relief tablets were pretty heavy duty, with a drowsiness warning on the side of the packet. Ignoring the rest of the first aid kit, Steve turned to leave again, not stopping at Tommy’s voice this time.

“Fuck you, Steve.”

“Only if you ask nicely, pal.” 

\---

Billy was sat in a locked closet because he ‘couldn’t be trusted with others’ and he was bored. He shouldn’t have fought with Tommy, but as soon as he started talking about respect, Billy had lost it. It was only Steve’s scared voice that had stopped him from seeing red and really doing some damage. 

_Steve._

He shouldn’t have beaten him up either, but he’d had so much pent up rage from dealing with his dad that night, that he just couldn’t stop, even when he’d wanted to. He was thankful Max had stopped him when he saw the state of Steve’s face a few days later. He felt like shit for being the cause of it, so he decided to go a little easier on Steve. But Billy still craved his attention, so he started to talk to him, just talking shit and getting in a few little digs here and there. It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t think Steve would want to be friends after everything that had happened. 

Billy sighed, his nose had stopped bleeding a while back, but he could feel some of it had dried on his lower face and along his arm. Letting his head fall back against the filing cabinet behind him. His eyes narrowed on a loose ceiling panel and he grinned as an idea came to him. 

\---

Steve had moved to the table in front of Nancy and Jonathan during lunch, not wanting to sit alone. He figured if he was going to get this dumb essay done, it’d be easier with their help. He was turned in his seat to face them, listening to their notes on his ideas so far, but their voices faded out when he saw the door at the back of library open. 

Nancy noticed his frown and turned to see what had distracted him, but heard it before she’d fully turned.

“Miss me?” Billy asked cockily, his grin widening at the sight of Steve’s surprised smile. 

“What are you doing here? Mr. Coleman said he’d put you in a separate classroom so you could ‘reflect’ on your bad decisions,” Steve said, looking up at Billy as he sat on the table next to him. 

“More like a locked storage closet.”

“He locked you in?” Nancy asked, frowning. 

“What a prick,” Steve added. 

“Such an obscene word, coming from such a pretty mouth,” Billy smirked, winking at Steve. He blushed at the unexpected compliment, looking at his shoes to try and hide his reddened cheeks. 

“What are you doing back?” Jonathan cut in, taking Billy attention away from Steve. 

“I was bored, figured you guys might be too. You wanna go on a little adventure?” He asked innocently, knocking his knee against Steve’s ribs. 

“An adventure where?” Nancy asked suspiciously, but her eyes were bright with the idea of being able to leave the library. 

“Just to my locker. Got something important in there,” Billy answered vaguely. 

“Sure, but we’ll have to go after lunch is finished, otherwise Coleman will come in and see we’ve gone,” Nancy nodded after looking at Jonathan for his opinion. 

“Shit, its lunch?” Billy asked absently.

“Yeah, did you bring something with you?” Steve said carefully, looking at the empty desk where Billy had been sat and then his lone jean jacket on the desk in front. 

“Nah, figured I’d go to the cafeteria.”

“We could stop by when we go to your locker, but I’ve still got half a sandwich and some chips left, if you don’t mind sharing,” Steve said, pushing his lunch closer to Billy and shrugging. He could feel the heavy weight of Nancy’s gaze on the side of his face, but he ignored it in favour of Billy’s soft smile of appreciation. Steve moved across a seat, so he could sit down properly while he ate. 

Billy had barely finished the sandwich when Coleman walked into the room. He dived under the table quickly, and Jonathan tried to cover for the noise he made by tapping a loud beat onto the table. 

Billy smirked at his position underneath the table and ran his hand teasingly along Steve’s leg, holding back a laugh at the way he jerked and started coughing to cover his gasp. He kicked Billy in the side none too gently, causing him to groan, when he hit an old bruise. Mr. Coleman started to look at the teens suspiciously, but when Nancy groaned lowly, trying to match Billy’s pitch, and complained about ‘monthly pains’ the Principal quickly decided to head back to his office to supervise Tommy, parting with a hasty, “Lunch is over. If you need a bathroom break come see me, otherwise stay quiet and get back to work!” 

As soon as the door closed, they all started laughing, even as Steve gave Billy a shove.

“What the hell was that?” 

“What? I couldn’t help myself. You shouldn’t go spreading your legs so eagerly for me, princess,” Billy smirked. “C’mon. We’ve got an adventure to go on.”

Steve rolled his eyes, grabbing Billy’s arm before he could move away. 

“Wait. I grabbed a few wipes from the first aid kit so you could clean up your face,” Steve explained, passing the small sachets to a surprised Billy. 

“Thanks, pretty boy,” Steve smiled.

After Billy had cleaned himself up Steve followed him, Nancy, and Jonathan to the back doors, giving one last look over his shoulder to make sure Mr. Coleman wasn’t just waiting for them to fuck up. 

\---

“So, what did you two do to get in here?” Steve asked his friends. 

_Friends._ Were they friends? Steve wasn’t so sure, but he couldn’t exactly be picky nowadays either. Ever since he lost the title of King Steve, a lot of people had decided to ignore him. Which was fine with Steve, he just wished his girlfriend hadn’t broken up with him at the same time, leaving him to mope on his own when he wasn’t looking after Dustin and his party of nerds. 

“With everything that… Happened with Will again, we’d skipped class a bunch of times. But because we’re both pretty good students, they only gave us one detention,” Nancy answered. They were trailing behind Billy, but Jonathan was further behind, taking pictures of the empty halls that he wouldn’t have a chance to do otherwise. 

“What are _you_ here for?” She asked. 

“Oh, apparently some science thing,” Nancy frowned at his uncertain tone. “It was Dustin’s fault, but I said I’d take the blame because he had something important planned with his mom and he didn’t want to have to cancel because he’d gotten in trouble,” Steve shrugged. 

“So, you shouldn’t even be here?” Billy asked, turning to face them suddenly. 

“Nope. I should be at home doing homework.”

“Home _alone_ doing homework,” Billy corrected. “That’s what you said earlier, right? That your parents are rarely home.” 

Steve nodded hesitantly, not sure where Billy was going with his question and not wanting to repeat earlier. Steve was just starting to get on with Billy, but whenever that happened, the blonde always found some way to make Steve realise how much of a dick he really was. 

“Leave him alone, Billy,” Nancy said, frowning at him as he walked backwards to keep facing Steve as they talked. 

“Hey, I was just asking. Wasn’t going to say anything bad. Just think it’s shitty that your parents leave you all the time like that,” He shrugged, looking genuine. 

“Yeah, well, they’re shitty parents,” Steve shrugged back. He knew they weren’t the worst, but that didn’t mean Steve couldn’t wish they were more loving and caring. 

“What about you, Billy?” Nancy asked, noticing how he tensed at the question. “Why are you in detention?” 

Billy seemed to relax again when she clarified her question, smirking at Nancy. 

“Nothing fancy, just got caught smoking between classes on school property.”

“You do that all the time,” Steve said, thinking back to the cigarette Billy had put out on the library table only four hours ago.

“Some teachers care more than others,” Billy said as he stopped at a locker. “Here we go.” 

Steve frowned, recognising the locker, but not as Billy’s.

“Is this Tommy’s locker?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

“I thought you said we were going to _your_ locker,” Jonathan said as he caught up to them. 

“Did I?” Billy pretended to act surprised as he unlocked and opened the locker. 

Steve huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. “So, what has Tommy got that you wanted so badly?” 

“This,” Billy said after digging around for a while, holding a small plastic bag with three messily, hand rolled cigarettes in it. Steve scoffed at the sight. 

“You brought us here for pot?” 

“What can I say? I’m an opportunist,” Billy grinned at the way Steve rolled his eyes. 

As they headed back, Nancy walked ahead with Jonathan, the two of them holding hands and talking in low whispers, smiling the entire time. Steve wasn’t going to interrupt them, he’d felt like enough of a third wheel during their lunch, he didn’t want to ruin an obviously private moment between them. So, instead he lagged behind with Billy. 

They’d been walking in silence, Steve caught up in his thoughts of Nancy and Jonathan, but Billy managed to get his full attention quickly.

“You hang out with kids a lot, Harrington?” 

“What?”

“You said you took the fall for that curly haired kid. You must care about him, and I’ve seen you around the arcade with them sometimes, when I drop Max off. So, do you hang around kids a lot, or just when your ex-girlfriend’s dating the older brother of one of ‘em?”

“God, shut _up,_ Billy. I’m not trying to get Nancy back, she’s obviously very happy with Jonathan,” He gestures to the giggling couple in front of them, “And I’m… Happy for them, I guess? Look, I don’t babysit Dustin because he hangs around Nancy and Jonathan’s brothers, I babysit Dustin because his mom works late and I usually don’t have anything better to do, so I might as well help out when I can.” He shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“You must have a real _dull_ life, Harrington,” Billy chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “If my dad didn’t make me drive Max around, she’d have to skate everywhere. Hate actin’ like a taxi service, and you’re just doing it for fun? Doesn’t make sense.” 

“I already told you, it’s not because of Nancy. I hardly see her when I’m with Dustin and the rest of the nerds,” He explained exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. “Why do you keep bringing me and her up anyway? You jealous?” 

Billy tensed and his eyes widened. 

“Because I gotta say, I don’t think you’re her type,” Steve continued.

“I’m _everyone’s_ type, princess. And no, I’m not jealous of you or Byers,” Billy paused, debating whether or not he should tell Steve how he felt. Fuck it, he thought, what do I have to lose at this point? “I was jealous of _her-._ ” 

He cut himself off at the faint sound of footsteps echoing down the hall. They all froze in place, they were so close to the library, they couldn’t get caught now.  
Nancy turned around, panic evident on her face. 

“What do we do?” She asked urgently.

“This way, come on,” Billy led them down a corridor to their left. 

They started running down the halls trying to find their way back to the library without being caught, but it seemed no matter where they turned, Mr. Coleman was just one step ahead of them. 

“We should go through the gym,” Billy suggested, as he checked around the corner for any sign of the Principal.

“No. We’ve been following you this entire time and we’re still not back yet. We should go through the cafeteria, it’ll be quicker,” Nancy argued, taking a few steps in the opposite direction to where Billy had pointed and ignoring the way he shook his head. 

Jonathan followed close behind as she headed down the corridor, not waiting for Billy to argue. Steve went to follow, but hesitated when he saw Billy hadn’t moved.

“What are you doing? Come on!” He said, tugging at the other boy’s wrist to get him moving. 

They started to run and quickly caught up to the other two, but it didn’t matter when they reached the end of a corridor and saw the cafeteria doors were shut and locked. 

“No! _Shit,_ ” Nancy pushed against the doors, feeling hopeless. It was a dead end. 

“I told yo-.”

“Shut up, Billy!” 

“What do we do now?” Jonathan asked. They could hear heavy footsteps coming from around the other end of the hallway, they had nowhere to go or hide. They were screwed. 

The four teens held their breath as the footsteps came closer, and only Steve’s shoulders dropped in relief at the sight of the figure stood opposite them. 

“What are you kids doing here?” Mr. Clarke asked. Steve knew him as Dustin’s teacher and had spoken to him a few times when he picked the kids up from AV club, and he seemed pretty laid back. Steve just hoped he was in a good mood today as well. 

“We’re uh… We’re here for detention,” Steve ignored the sharp look he got from Billy. “Mr. Coleman asked us to grab a drink from the cafeteria during our break, but he must’ve not known it was locked,” Steve lied, walking towards Mr. Clarke and slowly making his way past, with the other teens following his lead. 

“Oh, that’s ok then,” The teacher nodded, smiling. “Hey, could you remind Dustin that AV club is cancelled this Monday? I won’t be in to tell them all.”

“Yeah, can do,” Steve nodded, walking backwards away from Mr. Clarke and the cafeteria. He was just starting to think that they might just make it back to the library unscathed when he heard another set of footsteps from around the corner making the teens all jump. 

“The Principal didn’t tell you to get a drink from the cafeteria, did he?” Mr. Clarke asked, eyeing the four jumpy teens. 

“Uh… No. He didn’t,” Jonathan answered. 

Mr. Clarke huffed, frowning slightly. He crossed his arms and seemed to be debating something before he turned back to them. 

“If you go through the gym you should be able to get back to the library without running into anyone else. I’ll keep him distracted for an hour or so,” The teacher winked before walking towards the sound of Mr. Coleman’s steps. 

The four of them watched him walk by with open mouths. Billy was the first to pull himself together and turned to Nancy. 

“See? Even the teacher said we should go through the gym,” He said smugly before leading them in the opposite direction to where Mr. Clarke had gone. 

“That’s what you took from that?” She replied, rolling her eyes. 

“I also learned that Steve’s nerdy enough to get us out of trouble with the AV club teacher,” He smirked. 

“Shut up, Billy,” Steve huffed, his cheeks pink. 

\---

When they got back, Jonathan checked out of the doors at the front for any sign of the teachers, he smirked when he noticed that Tommy was asleep and snoring in the Principals office. He gave Billy the all clear when he got back, and headed towards the couches at the back of the library where they were all sat. 

“Ok, lets light these up!” Billy took a seat opposite Nancy and Jonathan. He grinned up at Steve, the blunt hanging slightly from his lips. “You ever smoked before, pretty boy?” 

Steve debated lying; he’d been to enough parties where people had smoked, but he’d always stuck to drinking. He shook his head, not trusting Billy’s growing grin. 

“This is going to be fun,” The blonde said as he lit the end of the blunt, passing it to Steve. “Just inhale and then hold it for a second,” He instructed. 

Steve did as he was told, but still ended up coughing for a minute or so after, not used to the feeling of smoke in his lungs. He passed it along to Nancy, letting her and Jonathan share it while Billy lit another. He watched him take a drag and blow out the smoke towards the ceiling. Billy turned and caught him staring before he could pretend to be looking at something else. His teasing grin came back full force, making Steve shiver slightly. 

“You ever shotgunned before, Steve?” 

Steve shook his head again. 

“Didn’t think so. It’s easy, just sit there and open your mouth to inhale when I tell you to, ok?” 

“Yeah.” 

Billy took a longer drag before leaning towards Steve until their lips were barely touching. He held Steve’s head in his empty hand to keep him steady and close as he let out the breath of smoke into Steve’s awaiting mouth. 

Steve felt dizzy, whether it was the weed or Billy’s close proximity, he didn’t know, but he liked it. He released what smoke was left with a grin, not looking away from Billy. 

“You like it?” Billy asked, a surprisingly soft smile on his face. 

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, leaning into Billy’s side a bit more. 

“Good. We can keep doing it then,” Billy said, pleased. He lifted his arm, careful not to dislodge Steve, and rested it along the back of the sofa behind Steve. 

\---

They soon grew bored of just sitting around and smoking, and when Nancy suggested they put on some music to dance to, Jonathan and Billy had shot up from their seats, determined to be the first to find some music and get to choose what they listen to. 

“So… Billy, huh?” Nancy asked with a small frown, fiddling with the lighter and blunt Billy had left behind. 

“What?” Steve asked, confused at the out-of-the-blue question. 

“You’ve just seemed pretty _close_ today. I mean, didn’t he beat you up when we were dealing with… _You know._ ” 

“Yeah, he did, but that seems like ages ago, now. I don’t know, it- it’s complicated, Nancy,” Steve ran a hand through his hair, struggling to find the words to explain and growing frustrated. “Why do you care anyway? We’re not friends,” Ok, so maybe he was happy for her and Jonathan, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still be a _bit_ angry at them. 

Nancy looked insulted. “ _Steve._ I still care about you, and I’d like to think we _could_ be friends eventually. I’m just worried, I guess. Billy isn’t the most stable guy, and I didn’t even know you liked guys like that.” 

Steve dropped his eyes to the floor. 

“Yeah, I didn’t either until recently. Is it weird?” He asked worriedly. 

“No, you’re still the same Steve,” She smiled softly, meeting his hesitant gaze. Steve gave his own small smile back when he saw her genuine expression. 

“Yeah. Thanks, Nance. And I think we could be friends, I just… Need a bit of time to get used to you and Jonathan.” 

Nancy smiled wider at that and lifted her hand to light the last blunt, when the heavy guitar of AC/DC filled the room. 

“…The hell?” Steve wondered out loud, looking over to where Billy was swinging his hips with a triumphant grin on his face. He noticed Jonathan walking over, sulkily. 

“Billy won the coin toss, so he gets to play some of his music first,” Nancy laughed at her boyfriend’s put-out sigh, and got up from the sofa. She grabbed his hand as she made her way to an area with no furniture, forcing him to follow behind, and started dancing to the heavy rock that Billy had chosen to play. 

Steve laughed at the stiff way Jonathan was moving, while Nancy seemed to take it in stride and twirled herself under his arm several times, grinning wider as Jonathan got looser in his moves. 

“C’mon, Harrington. We’re not going to let them have all the fun,” Steve hadn’t noticed Billy walking up to him, and couldn’t hide the surprise on his face when he saw the hand that was being held out to him. 

He grinned and took Billy’s hand letting him lead them over to the others. “We gonna show them how it’s done, Hargrove?” He asked cheekily, ducking and twirling under Billy’s arm like Nancy had, making Billy laugh loud and honest. 

“You know it, babe,” Billy said boldly, moving his hands to Steve’s waist as they moved to the music. 

Steve took the half smoked blunt from Nancy a few songs later, passing it to Billy when Jonathan spoke up. 

“I think it’s time for some good music now, don’t you think, Hargrove?” He smirked as he wandered over to the record player, swapping Billy’s choice for The Clash. 

“’Good music’? Are you deaf or something, Byers? AC/DC is one of the-,” Steve and Nancy’s laughter cut him off. He slowly turned towards the taller boy, narrowing his eyes at him as he took a drag. “Something funny, princess?” 

Steve stopped laughing for long enough to see the mischievous glint in Billy’s eyes as he started to advance on him, leaving a small trail of smoke behind. 

“Oh, no, no, no. You stay right there, Hargrove. Don’t come any closer,” Steve took a few steps back, holding his hands up to stop Billy in his tracks. He couldn’t hold back the excited grin on his face, especially when he saw it mirrored on Billy’s. 

“Stay still, Stevie, I’m not gonna bite,” Billy teased. 

“You fucking liar,” Steve laughed before he made a run for the stairs leading to the second floor bookshelves and study rooms, with Billy on his heels. 

He’d barely made it up the stairs before he was tackled to the ground. Billy was leant over him like that night at the Byers’, but this was so much different. They were both grinning and panting, Steve took the blunt from Billy’s mouth, taking the last hit and leaning his head up to share it like Billy had with him until he got used to it. 

Billy held the smoke for a second before blowing it to the side of Steve’s head. He leant in again to lightly press his lips to Steve’s, pulling back after to study his expression. 

“Is this ok?” Billy asked, leaning in to do it again as soon as Steve nodded. He slowly brushed his lips across Steve’s, relishing in the way their bodies felt against each other, and how Steve’s hands tightened in his hair when he licked along his bottom lip. 

Steve pulled back first, needing to take a breath. 

“I knew you liked me, you couldn’t keep your eyes off of me in basketball,” Billy said smugly, stroking his knuckles across Steve’s flushed cheek.

“What?! You’re the one that couldn’t keep his _hands_ to himself in basketball! As soon as you started there was never a moment you weren’t pressed at my back,” Steve laughed, sitting up with Billy in his lap. 

“I already told you, I’m an opportunist. And I saw the opportunity to press my dick against your ass, sue me,” Billy laughed as Steve shoved him off, grinning and blushing. 

“Are you guys finished making out up there? We’re going to play truth or dare,” Jonathan shouted up at them, Nancy waving an empty coke bottle in her hand next to him. 

“Yeah, we’ll be right down,” Steve replied, taking Billy’s hand again and let him pull him up from the floor. As soon as he was on his feet again, Billy tugged him closer to kiss him dirty and quick, biting at his bottom lip, and then headed down the stairs with a grin. 

“Come on, Harrington. Your friends are waiting,” He called over his shoulder at a slightly stunned Steve. 

“You’re such a dick, Hargrove!” Steve shook his head, laughing, as he ran after him. 

\---

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Steve huffed. 

They’d been playing for a while, Jonathan had been dared to give Nancy a lap dance, Billy had admitted to feeling guilty about the way he’d treated Lucas and the rest of Max’s friends, and Steve had been dared to pierce his ear. He wasn’t too happy about it. 

“Hey, if you want to back out and choose truth, that’s fine with me,” Billy said shrugging his shoulders. He had his lighter in one hand, ready to sterilise the needle he had in the other hand. Steve didn’t question why Nancy had a tiny, travel sized first aid kit after the last two years they’d been through. 

Steve didn’t trust Billy’s casual tone, there’d be some kid of catch, he knew. 

“Nah, I chose dare. I’ve gotta stick to it.”

“ _Good._ Now, which ear, baby?” Billy grinned. He planned on giving Steve his own earring until he could get his own. Billy thought Steve would look good in some of his things, he’d definitely have to get Steve into tighter pants at some point. 

“Left?” 

Billy crouched down in front of Steve and wiped his ear with the last anti-septic wipe Steve had grabbed earlier. He held the sterilised needle to Steve’s ear, holding the bar of soap Jonathan had grabbed from the bathroom nearby against the back of his ear. 

“It’s gonna hurt. But you’ll look hot as fuck,” Billy winked before pushing the needle through.

“Ah, shit! Fuck, that hurts,” Steve complained immediately, shifting to hover his hand over his stinging ear.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Billy said, looking at his handiwork. 

“Oh my God, Steve! I can’t believe you went through with it,” Nancy laughed.

“Yeah, man. Can’t say I think you look hot as fuck, but you do look pretty cool,” Jonathan joked, surprising Steve into a deep laugh. 

Billy leant over to his ear and lined up his earring. 

“I’m gonna pull the needle out and put the earring in now, ok? Probably going to hurt even more if I’m being honest,” He said, not giving Steve a chance to answer before he started pulling the needle.

Steve muffled his pained shouts behind his hands and punched Billy hard in the shoulder once the earring was in place. 

“Ow, what the hell, Steve?” Billy looked at him as if he had two heads.

“That’s for daring me to get my ear pierced, you fucking jerk,” Steve pretended to sulk. 

“Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Billy started to kiss along his neck, but just as Steve had started to soften, Billy knocked the earring and a sharp pain shot through Steve’s ear. 

“Fuck, nope. Still a jerk,” Steve said wincing. 

“It’s your turn to spin, Steve,” Nancy reminded him as his ear started to fade into a dull throb. 

“Ok… _Billy,_ truth or dare?” Steve said grinning, hoping Billy would choose dare. He had something in mind. 

“Truth.”

Shit. Steve wasn’t expecting Billy to choose truth again. 

“Ok, uhm,” Steve paused trying to think of a good question. Suddenly, he thought of one, but he knew Billy wouldn’t react well to it. He didn’t understand why he needed Billy to answer so badly but, now that he’d thought of it he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. “Do you get in a lot of fights with your dad?” 

Billy froze. 

“What the fuck, Harrington?” Billy hissed. 

“Billy, I’ve seen the bruises and I’ve heard Max talk about how mad your dad gets. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. I’m not trying to put you in a corner, I just wanted you to know that I’m here if you w-wanna talk or anything. You could come to my house if you ever need to,” Steve finished lamely, avoiding his eyes, and greatly regretting asking. 

Billy scoffed. “I can talk to you, huh? You going to talk to me about what the fuck you were doing at Byers’ that night? Or is this just one way, _princess?_ ” Billy spat the pet name out like a curse.

“Billy…” Steve shook his head slightly, unable to find the words to explain himself. 

“No bullshit, Steve,” Billy interrupted him, not noticing the way he flinched or how Nancy winced at his choice of words. 

“I-I can’t tell you, Billy. It’s not my story to tell,” Steve tried to explain, looking for support from Nancy and Jonathan. 

“My brother has been through a lot in the last two years, and Steve helps out sometimes,” Jonathan said, trying to get Billy to stop glaring at Steve. 

“Why doesn’t that sound like the whole truth? Why would Steve help your brother?” Billy licked his lips, before baring his teeth in an angry smile at Steve. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Just don’t expect me to tell you shit, either.” 

“We could tell him,” Nancy whispered to Jonathan, her eyes wide and somewhat pleading. He nodded at her before turning to a wide-eyed Steve. 

“Tell him, Steve.”

“What? Are you sure? Hop said tha-.” 

“Fuck what Hopper said, he lied to us, to Mike, for, like, a year about Jane. _Tell him,_ Steve,” Nancy argued. 

Billy had been glaring between the three teens as they talked, but focused back on Steve as he seemed to prepare himself for what he was going to say. Billy hadn’t been expecting to hear that Hopper was involved, and he didn’t know who this Jane was, but he wasn’t liking the picture he was building in his head. 

“I was at the Byers’ house that night because I was looking after the kids. Jonathan was with his mom, Nancy, and Will because Will was being, I don’t know, possessed, I guess, by this weird shadow monster an-.” 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Billy said monotonously. “ _’Shadow monster’_? Jesus, your lies are getting even worse, Harrington. You really need to work on that.”

“He’s not lying,” Jonathan said quietly. “My brother didn’t go missing in the woods last year. He was in another dimension, which is how the shadow monster got to him.” 

Nancy curled her arm around him comfortingly. “If you don’t believe us, ask Max or any of the kids, or the chief of police. They were all there.”

“Hopper went to close the-The Gate, the way through to the other place, with this girl, Jane? I think she has mind powers. I’ve only met her like once. I was meant to look after the nerds and keep them out of trouble, and then you showed up and beat the shit out of me. I think the kids stole your car and drove to the old pumpkin fields. When I woke up they were all ready to go down into these tunnels and set fire to the place, so I had to go with ‘em.” 

Billy’s eyes were wide, he didn’t know whether to believe them or not. They seemed so genuine, but the story was so fucking crazy. 

“Shit,” Billy started laughing, causing the other three teens to frown, concerned by his sudden change of mood. “You just ‘had to go with them’, huh, Harrington? You’d been beaten within an inch of your life and you still dive head first down a fucking monster tunnel to babysit a bunch of kids. Jesus fucking Christ.” 

“So, you believe us?” Steve said, trying to gauge Billy’s reaction. 

“I don’t know. I mean, Hawkins _is_ pretty weird,” Billy shrugged. 

“We have a demo-dog buried in the back yard if you need physical proof,” Jonathan added.

“Probably should’ve led with that,” Nancy nudged him. 

“A demo-what?” Billy asked confused. 

“Weird monster dog,” Nancy dismissed, looking at her watch absently. “Shit, it’s almost three o’clock, Mr Coleman will be coming to check on us soon.”

“I need to get back to the storage closet before he sees I’m not there,” Billy said, getting up and making his way towards the back exit. 

“Hey, Billy, wait,” Steve said, catching his arm before he left. “Are we ok?” 

“Yeah, we’re ok,” Billy nodded. Steve nodded back, turning away. He stopped again, grabbing Billy by the shoulder and spinning him around. 

“Jesus, Harrington, what?” Billy said agitated, but he was pliant in Steve’s hold as he moved him, though he tensed slightly when the taller boy’s lips met his briefly. 

“Ok, yeah. _Now_ we’re good,” Steve winked and jogged back to his seat at the front of the library, leaving Billy to stand there for a few seconds while the shock wore off. Billy grinned as he made his way back to the locked closet, he couldn’t wait to get King Steve alone. 

\--- 

“Ok, so it’s nowhere near fifteen hundred words, but I think it’ll be good enough,” Nancy said as she finished off the essay. She signed it from them all before leaving it on the front desk, where Tommy had sat originally. 

The three of them grabbed their coats and bags as soon as Mr. Coleman walked into the room, and didn’t stick around to hear what he had to say about their essay after he said they could go home. 

Nancy and Jonathan walked over to his car and got in, waving to Steve as he waited in the car park, leaning against Billy’s Camaro. 

He waited another fifteen minutes before he heard the front school doors open, and he looked up to see Billy trying to cover his shock with one of smug satisfaction. 

“Are you waiting for _me_? Baby, you shouldn’t have,” He said as he got closer, pushing his way into Steve’s space and keeping him pinned against his car. “God, you look good with that earring. It feels weird not having it in, but it’s worth it to see you wearing it.” 

“Yeah? I’ll buy you a new one. This one’s growing on me, was thinking I might keep it,” Steve shrugged, wrapping his arms around Billy’s waist. 

“You gonna buy me jewellery and take me to fancy restaurants, princess? Think I’m gonna put out before the third date if you play your cards right?” Billy chuckled, licking over his teeth when he saw Steve’s pupils dilate slightly. 

“Don’t need to take you anywhere fancy, Hargrove. You were _this_ close to giving it up in the library, bet you’d be up for it now in the back of your car,” Steve murmured against his lips, his breath hitching when he felt Billy’s hands stroke underneath his shirt along the line of his waistband. 

“ _You got me_. What are you gonna do about it, King Steve?” Billy challenged, a wild look in his eyes. 

Steve paused, taking in the feeling of Billy in his arms, his breath fanning across Steve’s chin, and the lingering smell of Marlborough’s that clung to Billy’s jacket. 

“My car has a bigger back seat than yours,” Steve replied, already taking out his keys and moving over to his car, parked a few spaces away. He grinned over his shoulder at Billy, not expecting him to slap his ass when he caught up to him. He yelped and elbowed Billy playfully, before leaning in to let Billy kiss him fiercely.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all liked it! I'm not 100% about it tbh, I think some scenes are better than others, buuut I'm always gonna find faults in my own work. I wanted to write about what Nancy thought about her parents and have Jonathan talk abput his shitty dad vs the godsend that is Joyce Byers, but I couldn't get it to fit. 
> 
> I googled who the principal of Hawkins High School was for accuracy and stuff even though I based his characteristics off of the guy from the film instead.  
> Also, I dunno if anyone got this but Billy's dad obvs sent him to detention with no food as a sort of punishment, but also Billy's been to enough detentions at this point that he'd know that the cafeteria wouldn't be open for him to get something to eat, so he was kind of trying to cover for himself out of embarrassment(?) when Steve asked him about his lunch.  
> Fun game: drink every time someone tells Billy to shut up


End file.
